On 22 March, RFUK’s civil society organisation partners Network for the Environment and Human Rights (Réseau EDH) met with Tosi Mpanu Mpanu, Special Advisor to the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on Environment, Urbanism and Mobility, to discuss key environmental concerns. The meeting covered pressing issues such as the Kivu-Kinshasa Green Corridor, oil blocks and the need for intersectoral reforms.

Joseph Bobia Bonkaw, spokesperson for Reseau EDH, stressed the importance of ongoing civil society dialogue to support government action. "All environmental sector reforms are stagnating. The forestry policy is still in its draft stage, and industrial logging remains rampant," he explained. The participants also stressed the need for greater civil society and Indigenous Peoples involvement in the Green Corridor project – a vast protected area the size of France that was created in January, to ensure local communities' interests are safeguarded.

Mpanu Mpanu acknowledged these concerns and pledged to strengthen dialogue with civil society on these issues. Civil society groups welcomed this step as an opportunity for greater transparency and engagement in shaping environmental policy.

Réseau EDH is a network of 17 leading Congolese civil society and Indigenous organisations intended to better coordinate information flows between Kinshasa, the provinces and local communities and to amplify the campaigning and advocacy of its members in the vast forested country.